I’m not sure how many Canadians knew this day was being celebrated by people like myself – a dairy farmer’s daughter whose passion for agriculture and communications (with politics thrown in there) led to an agricultural communications role working in provincial politics at Queen’s Park.

Agriculture is an industry I really love working in.

According to my Instagram poll late tonight, which includes a mixed audience of both those in and outside of agriculture, thankfully 67% (or 130 respondents) knew it was #CdnAgDay.

Whether you knew it was Ag Day or not, or work in agriculture or not, we all have one major thing in common – something we can relate too – and that is food.

The other thing we can all most certainly relate too, is having a job.

We all need food to eat and most of us have a job or aspire to have a job. So there, we at have at least two things in common now to continue this productive conversation.

On a day like today, in some instances, it feels like we in agriculture across Canada are a passionate group of people….. who preach to the choir.

It is on days like today, I am reminded of how our industry needs to position ourselves in a way that catches the attention of the 98% of Canadians who do not come from a farm or know anything about agriculture-food.

We need to sell our agri-food industry in a way that is cool and makes young graduates and people WANT to come work with us, much like how the STEM movement has captured the attention of many soon-to-be high school graduates and young career professionals.

Its why I think the movement around STEM (Science-Technology-Engineering-Math) should actually be called STEAM, with the ‘A’ proudly standing for Agriculture.

In a fast-paced digital society that is becoming more of a knowledge-based economy, attracting top talent to our agri-food sector will be imperative to fill the more the more than 100,000+ jobs we are going to need to fill in the next decade.

[Side note, people maybe don’t even realize just how tech-savvy farmers really are and how actively they use their smartphone to do business and participate on social media! If you’re looking for some examples, just ask me for some savvy farmers and agri-food professionals, I’d be happy to share]

These examples above are just a few that showcase leading-edge technology, research and innovation that takes place every day in our Canadian agri-food industry that consumers and industry benefits from. Examples that combine science, technology, engineering, math and agriculture to produce some pretty awesome results.

Agriculture has even embraced the conversation around the much-needed role of more women in our sector. Groups like Ag Women’s Network in Ontario and Saskatchewan Women in Ag, have created a positive atmosphere to promote more women getting involved in agriculture and food. In fact, in the 2016 Canadian Census, the proportion of women who are farm operators increased to 27.8%, for the first time in 15 years! Its been a breathe of fresh air to see this movement take off.. and its a movement that is here to stay.

Canadian agriculture and food needs more savvy individuals to help us in our sector.

Enthusiast individuals and young graduates who can help us grow food; create sustainable and sound food policy; get food from farmers to processors; work in trade so more Canadian-grown food can be exported around the world to address food security; get food from processors to consumers; communicate agriculture’s message to the masses; and market food more effectively so it eventually ends up on consumer’s plates.

I know why this gap most likely exists in attracting top talent.

Its because we don’t make our sector attractive enough or ‘sexy’ enough to market it and attract young graduates from non-farming backgrounds.

Much like the picture above of me in front of Queen’s Park, when you think of agriculture and food related jobs, you probably don’t picture someone like myself. This is the game-changer of our industry – you don’t have to look like the stereotypical farmer with the straw hat and pitch fork in hand to work in agriculture and food. And you certainly don’t need to come from a farm to work in agriculture and food.

Gone are the days where these stereotypes exists. Or at least, they should be by now. Its 2018.

We in the agri-food sector are savvy, sophisticated and passionate people who believe in what we do. Everyone along the value chain is playing a role to ensure the highest-quality, safest products are delivered 365 days a year to Canadian consumers and consumers around the world. For many of us, agriculture and food isn’t just an industry we work in but a lifestyle we enjoy 365 days of the year. Not many industries can say this.

It is time we embrace the STEM movement and begin to promote STEAM.

This way, many needs are addressed – those of our agri-food industry who needs top, innovative talent; those of young millennial graduates looking for exciting new careers in an already tight job market; and those of our Canadian consumers who continue to need/want the best food possible.

Its a win-win for all. Now let’s get out there and promote STEAM!#MakingAgriFoodCool

It has been a hard few days to comprehend what is taking place in the world right now. In whatever circles you run in, industry you work in or conversations you’ve had with family and friends, I’m sure the topic of conversation as of late, has mentioned either one of two things:

the state of the world

something you’ve seen or referenced on social media and how social media has played a role in reflecting the current state of our world

If you work in the agriculture-food industry as I do, one of the ‘topics of conversation’ in the last year has also been about the misinformation that exists when it comes to labeling and consumer knowledge of things such as genetically modified organisms (GMOs), gluten-free, hormones, use of antibiotics, etc.

As you can see, some of these decisions favourCanadian agriculture and food while other campaigns hinder.

In many of the conversations I’ve participated in, been privy too or watched transpire online relating to food and misinformation over the past year, one of the most common arguments in how we need to counter this misinformation with the use of science/facts to dispute the misconceptions.

How the industry needs to inform consumers with more facts, figures and logic. How the industry has to help consumers make more rational, well-informed and educated decisions in how they go about choosing their food. How we need to let the facts speak for the truth to counter misinformation that consumers have learned, grown up with, or heard from family, friends, society, etc.

After witnessing the 2016 US Presidential election and all that has transpired since, including this weekends devastating events, it has made me question that while we can believe that facts and figures should be used as the right tool to shape truth and change one’s opinion, what role does emotion play in all of this? Does emotion in fact outweigh science, facts, figures, logic and rationality?

Can you truly have a one-time conversation with someone and try and change their personal opinion on a matter with facts/figures? Or do we have to get to the heart or root of WHY their making that decision to understand that more often times then we’d like to acknowledge, emotion is what drives people’s decisions, thoughts and ideas, which would explain some of the events that are taking place currently in the world and influencing the conversation online and on social media.

Whether it is right or wrong, there is science that supports that emotion is what in fact what trumps science, facts, logic and rationality.

If this weekend has taught us anything (among so many other valuable life lessons), it would be that what appears ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ depends on the eye of the beholder and what their emotions are telling them is right or wrong in their world of views or beliefs.

This can be disheartening and hard to come to terms with, but its something for all of us to keep in mind as we communicate with our intended audiences, especially in the agriculture and food field.